McCann won't seek GOP nomination for new Senate term

State Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, who defeated a Republican challenger in 2016 and was facing another in 2018, announced Monday he is not seeking the GOP nomination for another term.

McCann, who first won election to the Illinois Senate in 2010, made the announcement that he won’t run on the final day of filing for the March 20 primary. Already filed in his 50th Senate District is Steve McClure, a former assistant state’s attorney from Springfield, who has backing of the Sangamon County GOP.

“While representing the men and women of the 50th District has been one of the great honors and privileges of my life, it is clear that the Illinois Republican Party, including several of the county party organizations, has lost its way under Governor Rauner," McCann said in a statement. “I am unable to continue on with a party or a governor who continually attack working people; who support forcing taxpayers to fund abortions; who have turned Illinois into a sanctuary state; who have advanced the most liberal standards in the nation giving transgender individuals the ability to alter their birth certificates; and who have destroyed Illinois’ Right of Conscience Act so as to force pro-life doctors, nurses and other providers to violate their consciences and be denied their Constitutional Rights. This is no longer a Republican Party that is recognizable to me.”

While opponents of the TRUST Act signed by Rauner say it will make Illinois a sanctuary state, backers of the plan say it was a compromise and does not give Illinois sanctuary status. Under the law, local law enforcement officers cannot detain a person based solely on immigration status but can hold someone for federal immigration authorities if there is a valid criminal warrant. Rauner said when he signed the bill it would help keep communities safe since residents would be willing to talk to police as victims or witnesses, without fearing deportation.

By not filing in a partisan primary, McCann would be allowed to file for office as an independent. The filing period for independent candidates is June 18-25. McCann on Monday declined to comment about any future political plans.

Rosemarie Long, who chairs the Sangamon County Republican Party, said in August when the party backed McClure over incumbent McCann that McCann “wasn’t true to our core principles anymore.” She also cited a 2016 rating from the American Conservative Union Foundation that gave McCann a 27 percent rating.

McCann responded then that he would put his conservative credentials up against anyone’s.

“There is no member of the Illinois Senate more pro-life or more pro-Second Amendment than me,” McCann said at the time.

When McClure formally announced his candidacy in September, he said McCann made a mistake by voting for a state spending plan this summer “because it came with a 32 percent income tax increase.” The first annual budget the state had in just more than two years went into effect when the legislature voted to override Rauner's vetoes.

McCann voted for the spending plan but against the corresponding income-tax increase. McCann said then that he was proud of his vote for the budget “since the governor has abdicated his duty for three years in a row by failing to introduce a balanced budget. The legislature had to take matters into its own hands.”

McClure said at his announcement that the legislature should have gotten a better deal.

“The Republicans need to stick with the governor,” McClure said at the time.

McClure was the only candidate who has filed in the 50th Senate District. Democrats could appoint a candidate to the ballot later, but the 50th is considered a strong GOP district.

"When I started this whole process, I anticipated ... a very contested primary race," McClure said Monday after McCann's announcement. "I'm just going to focus on meeting everyone that I can, listening to what's going on in the district, and then running this campaign like I'm 50 points down, because I think that's the only way to run a campaign.

Asked who he is backing for governor in the race between Rauner and state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, McClure said: "I will support the Republican nominee, who I expect to be Governor Rauner."

He said it is "very unlikely," but Ives could win the primary, and he would then back her next November. As for the primary, he said, "I'm not really in a position of authority to do anything." And while he disagrees with Rauner on some social issues, he said that in a November contest between Rauner and a Democrat McClure also disagrees with on social issues, he would "obviously" pick Rauner because he and Rauner agree on the need to reform the state.

In the 2016 primary, Sangamon County Republicans backed McCann, but Rauner backed Bryce Benton, who is with the Illinois State Police and a member of the Bank of Springfield Center’s board, in the primary. McCann won.

During his tenure, McCann also has had to defend his use of his campaign fund. The fund purchased a $61,000 sport-utility vehicle this spring, and he previously had spent more than $38,000 for mileage reimbursements in a year.

McCann said his expenditures were justified because he travels extensively in his district.

In his statement Monday, McCann said that until his term expires in early 2019, "I will continue to represent the constituents of the 50th District with the same vigor and determination as I have since taking office in 2011.”

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